No. 1 Florida (43-9/18-8 SEC) hits the road to finish the regular season at No. 8 LSU (37-16, 17-10).
No. 1 Florida (43-9/18-8 SEC) hits the road to finish the regular season in Baton Rouge at No. 8 LSU (37-16, 17-10). This weekend will be the Gators sixth top-10 matchup of the season having previously played at No. 6 Miami (2-1), vs. No. 1 Texas A&M (3-0), No. 10 Mississippi St. (1-2), at No. 5 South Carolina (1-1) and against No. 7 Vanderbilt (2-1).
The Gators currently hold a half-game lead at the top of the Southeastern Conference Standings. There are six teams currently within one game in the standings as the league wraps up the regular season this weekend. Florida, No. 4 Mississippi State and No. 2 Texas A&M each have 18 wins in conference play, while No. 10 South Carolina, LSU and No. 6 Ole Miss each sit at 17 SEC wins.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday: Alex Lange, So., (R) (7-3, 3.76) vs.
Logan Shore, Jr., (R) (10-0, 2.29)
Friday: Riley Smith, Jr., (R) (1-0, 7.36) vs.
A.J. Puk, Jr., (L) (2-3, 2.88)
Saturday: Jared Poche', Jr., (L) (6-4, 4.00) vs.
Alex Faedo, So., (R) (10-1, 3.59)
WEEKEND COVERAGE
QUICK HITS ABOUT THE GATORS
- With a 2-1 series win over Vanderbilt last week, the Gators have now won 43 games, setting a new school record for wins in the regular season. The previous mark of 41 wins was accomplished five times in school history.
- With a 9-3 win at Tennessee, the 2016 Gators squad became the fastest team in school history to reach 40 wins -- doing so in only 48 games. Previously, the 1996 team reached 40 wins in 52 games. Florida is also the first team in the nation to win 40 games this season.
- Entering the week, the Gators led the nation in strikeouts (544), strikeouts per nine innings (10.4) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.42).
- Three Florida pitchers rank in the top 20 nationally in strikeout to walk ratio: sophomore RHP Alex Faedo ranks 7th (7.62), junior RHP Dane Dunning is 9th (7.44) and junior RHP Logan Shore is 19th (6.33). They also rank 2-3-4 in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
- Junior LHP A.J. Puk and Faedo are among the best in the country at fanning batters, ranking second and eighth respectively. Puk leads the SEC with 13.10 strikeouts per nine innings and Faedo is second with 12.26 strikeouts per nine.
- Florida has won Shore's last 18 starts dating back to 2015. He tossed his third complete game of the season last week in the win over Vanderbilt (9 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), giving him a win in 15-straight decisions.
- Junior 1B Peter Alonso leads the Gators offense with a .352 average on the season but is out until the NCAA Regionals after suffering a fractured bone in his hand last weekend against Vanderbilt.
- Sophomore SS Dalton Guthrie broke out of his slump last week with a .333 average (4-for-12) against Vanderbilt. On the season, he is hitting .321 and has 23 multi-hit games on the season -- most on the Gators.
- Junior LHP Kirby Snead (3-1, 2.12) leads the SEC and is third in the country with 33 appearancecs this year. His 93 career appearances ranks seventh in school history. Junior RHP Shaun Anderson (3-0, 1.02) ranks third in the SEC and 29th nationally with 10 saves on the season.
- Junior CF Buddy Reed is 22-for-24 on the basepaths, the most steals by a Florida player since Matt den Dekker had 23 stolen bases in 2010.
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